Patience

Patience is not passive, on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.

- Bruce Lee

Choice

May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.

- Nelson Mandela

Initiative

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

- Michael Jordan

Earnestness

Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well; whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself completely; in great aims and in small I have always thoroughly been in earnest.

- Charles Dickens

Fluidity

Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Imperfection

There is beauty and humility in imperfection.

- Guillermo del Toro

Love

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

- James Baldwin

Simplicity

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

- Lao Tzu

Ease

Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who you are.

- Chinese proverb

Confidence

Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.

- Helen Keller

Warmth

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.

- Thomas Jefferson

Playfulness

A great man is one who has not lost the child’s heart.

– Mencius

Imagination

The power of imagination makes us infinite.

- John Muir

//

That last image is for January 2020. I know I'll be turning to it before I know it.

I'm happy to have another one of these wrapped up. I'm touched to see how many of you continue to get one year after year. I'm glad it resonates with you because it is such a personal project for me.

I surprised myself to find that after four years of picking themes, it took me this long to come around to finding a connection to basic ones like Love, Patience, and Confidence. But that really is how it unfolded.

These themes reflect my personal reflections from 2018 and resolutions for 2019. Last year I learned a lot about patience and love, ego and humility. This year is already set to be a whirlwind, and I am focused on moving through it with ease and playfulness.